


The Other Twin

by Crematosis



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Castiel and Jimmy Novak are Twins (Supernatural), DestielFFPrompt (Supernatural), M/M, Mistaken Identity, one-sided Dean Winchester/Jimmy Novak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25895920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crematosis/pseuds/Crematosis
Summary: Dean has been crushing on Jimmy Novak for a little while now. But as he finally works up the courage to ask him out, Dean discovers something completely surprising. Maybe he's had a crush on the wrong person this whole time.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 7
Kudos: 138
Collections: SPN TFW Bingo





	The Other Twin

**Author's Note:**

> For the Doppelgängers square for SPN TFW Bingo

Dean rubbed his hands together gleefully as he watched Jimmy Novak take a seat at an empty table in the middle of the food court. This was finally his chance to ask him out.

Jimmy was a popular guy and he always seemed like he was surrounded with one group of friends or another, which made him hard to catch all by himself.

The popularity was totally warranted, as far as Dan was concerned. Jimmy was not only ridiculously good looking, he was also incredibly smart. Maybe not quite as smart as Sam, but nobody really was. Still, Dean had never seen Jimmy struggle in any of the general ed classes they had shared. He seemed to be good at every subject and he could explain it all patiently in a way that anybody could understand. So yeah, Dean could see why so many people wanted to hang out with him.

But if Jimmy wasn’t interested in going out, Dean didn’t want an audience to watch him getting turned down.

He quickly crossed the cafeteria, just in case any of Jimmy’s friends were on the way over and nudged Jimmy’s table with one hip.

“Is this seat taken?”

“Winchester, hey,” Jimmy said with a warm smile. “Need more physics help?”

“God no,” Dean said with a laugh. “I told you I was never taking another physics class in my life and I’m a man of my word.”

Jimmy snorted and the corners of his eyes crinkled with mirth. It was a beautiful sight. Jimmy sometimes seemed so serious and getting him to smile took a lot of effort. But Dean loved the big, gummy smiles he coaxed out of him every so often.

Dean cleared his throat, refocusing himself on the conversation. “But you were the best lab partner a guy could ask for. I really owe you one, man. I wouldn’t have passed without you.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Dean. You just needed a little nudge in the right direction. You got it all figured out eventually.”

“Maybe so,” Dean said. “But I’m still grateful for the help. I’m not a big math guy, but you made everything make sense. And it would only make sense if I spent more time with you to see what else you could teach me.” He smiled winningly. “You want to go out for drinks sometime? It’ll be my treat.”

Jimmy’s eyes went wide. “You’re asking me out? Oh fuck. This is a little awkward.”

Dean’s cheeks reddened. “My bad, man. Shouldn’t have assumed.”

God, he was such an idiot. Why had he assumed Jimmy was gay? The impassioned speech he gave about Stonewall in their modern American history class didn’t have to mean anything. Maybe someone Jimmy knew was gay or he just got angry about all the injustice in the world. Hopefully Jimmy was just as nice as he seemed and wouldn’t get offended that Dean insinuate he was anything less than straight, but Dean knew for sure he’d never be able to look Jimmy in the eyes again.

“I’ll get out of your hair.” He backed away, almost stumbling over his own feet in his haste to escape.

“No, wait! Please sit down, Dean.”

Dean dropped heavily onto the chair.

Jimmy’s smile was a little strained. “You’re a good guy, Dean, and I’m flattered by your interest. But unfortunately….”

“You’re not gay.”

“Not even a little bit,” Jimmy agreed. “But I know someone who is.”

“I appreciate the thought, but you don’t need to set me up with random strangers. I meant it when I said I’ll back off. I’ll move on. Im not going to be heartbroken just because you turned me down.”

Jimmy steepled his fingers. “Did I mention I have a twin brother?”

“What?”

Jimmy nodded. “An identical twin brother.”

“No way.”

“Yes way. And lucky for you, he just so happens to be gay. So you’ll get to date someone just as pretty as I am, but in the gay version.” Jimmy was practically beaming.

Dean’s eyes narrowed. “This sounds way too convenient to be true. How come I’ve never met this twin of yours?"

“You probably have. I’m not proud of this, but we take advantage of being identical. I take all the classes in subjects I’m good at and he takes all the classes in subjects he’s good at. That way we both don’t have to suffer through classes we hate and we always get As. I’m the math and science guy and Castiel handles foreign languages, history, and stuff like that.”

Dean’s brow furrowed. “And how come I’ve never had a class with Castiel on the roster as himself?”

Jimmy shrugged. “What can I say? Your schedules just never lined up.”

“A likely story.”

“Jesus, you’re paranoid. Here, I’ll prove it to you.” Jimmy tore a piece of paper out of his notebook scribbled something on it and passed it across the table. “This is Castiel’s number. Give him a call. Ask him something about one of the classes you think you’re taking with me.”

“I don’t see how this proves anything,” Dean said. But he dialed the number anyway.

“Hello, Castiel speaking,” said a rough voice. It did sound remarkably like Jimmy’s, but phones didn’t really capture all the nuance of a person’s true voice.

“Hey, Castiel. I’m Dean.”

“Hello, Dean. I don’t recall giving you my number.”

“Your bother did. Said you could help me with my political history class.”

“I see. Yes, I could offer you some assistance if you’re struggling. Let me know what your schedule is like and we can work out a time to meet.”

“I’m free right now,” Dean said, giving Jimmy a challenging look across the table. Jimmy just raised an eyebrow. “I’m eating lunch in the food court.”

Castiel hummed thoughtfully. “I can probably be there in under half an hour.”

“Cool. See you soon.” He hung up the phone and leaned back in his seat. 

Huh. He’d half-expected ‘Castiel’ to be conveniently unavailable to meet at the moment and pick a day later in the week so Jimmy could show up wearing a different outfit and play Castiel’s part.

“So, there’s your proof,” Jimmy said smugly. “You heard it with your own ears and you’ll see it with your own eyes soon enough.”

“Guess so,” Dean said with a shrug.

“In the meantime, how are you doing this semester? Any other math or science struggles I could help you with?”

Dean was still confused and a little angry about whatever game Jimmy was playing, but he found he couldn’t resist the earnestness in those bright blue eyes. Damn his good looks.

Reluctantly, Dean found himself talking about his stupid classes. How he couldn’t wait to get to his junior year when he would be taking all upper division classes in his major and no more boring general ed.

“Same here,” Jimmy said with a smile. “We’ll finally be able to take all our own classes.”

Dean checked his watch. Almost half an hour had gone by. “So, is this the part where you excuse yourself to go the bathroom so ‘Castiel’ can show up?”

“Nope,” Jimmy said. “I’m staying right here and enjoying the show.”

“Hello, Dean,” a deep, husky voice said almost right in Dean’s ear.

Dean froze, his eyes wide. That totally sounded like a sterner, deeper version of Jimmy’s voice.

Jimmy chuckled. “Cassie. Right on time.”

Dean turned around slowly.

The man standing in front of him was almost a mirror image of Jimmy. Same dark, scruffy hair, same bright blue eyes, same height, same muscular build. Hell, they were even wearing the same clothes.

Dean’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit!” His eyes darted between the two of them. “Dude, this is wild.”

Castiel gave his twin a withering look. “Must you always do this?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Jimmy said with a lazy smile.

Castiel rolled his eyes. “I apologize, Dean. My brother has a flair for the dramatic. He likes to just tell everyone we’re brothers so they’re caught off guard when they see me the first time.”

“Hey, I warned this one,” Jimmy said. “Same reaction.”

“I’ve never met real life twins before,” Dean said. “It’s pretty surreal.”

Castiel put a hand on one hip. “So, did you actually need help with your class or am I here just for the entertainment value?”

“Wait, that’s actually you in Miller’s class, isn’t it?”

Castiel shook his head. “I took political history in the fall semester.”

“But Jimmy said…”

“Yeah, I told him all about our little scheme,” Jimmy said with an apologetic shrug.

Castiel frowned. “Why would you do something like that? We agreed not to tell too many people.”

“In his defense, I would have figured it out eventually,” Dean said. “After all, we’ve supposedly never had a class before and yet you walked right up to me.”

Castiel opened his mouth and then closed it again. “You do have a point.”

“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me,” Dean said with a wink. “I’m sure if Sammy was actually my twin, I’d be making him take all the classes I hate too. Kid’s a freaking genius.”

“How is Sam anyway?” Castiel inquired. “I believe you mentioned he’s applying to Stanford.”

“Damn,” Jimmy said with an appreciative whistle. “You didn’t tell me that. You’ve been holding out on me, Winchester.”

“Well, maybe I’d tell you more personal things if you’d stop calling me by my last name,” Dean shot back.

“I’ve only had two classes with you,” Jimmy said defensively. “I didn’t think we were that close.”

“Wait, really?”

Jimmy nodded. “Physics and algebra 2.”

“Holy shit. I’ve had seven classes with Castiel.” He stared at Castiel, silently reevaluating all the interactions he had thought he had with Jimmy.

“Well, this certainly makes things easier,” Jimmy said. “I don’t think it was ever me you were crushing on.”

Yeah, thankfully he had had the hots for the gay twin the whole time. It was a little embarrassing he had tried to put the moves on Jimmy, but now he knew better. And he wasn’t going to have to start over from the beginning getting to know Castiel. Castiel was practically a friend already. He just had to make the move to the next level.

“I still can’t believe I ever thought you two were both the same person,” Dean said. “You both have separate personalities. You don’t talk the same, you don’t have the same mannerisms. Hell, you two don’t even have the same experiences. I’m such an idiot.”

“I wouldn’t beat yourself up too badly for the misconception,” Castiel said. “You had no way of knowing that Jimmy had a twin. It would be more logical to assume that he was simply having a bad day if he was a little less friendly than I have been.”

“Seriously,” Jimmy said. “Nobody suspects we’re twins until we tell them. You’re not dumb. It’s just statistical probability. Odds are against people having twins.”

“Still, I can tell you two apart so clearly just looking at you. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. You don’t even look completely identical. Cas is clearly the hotter twin.”

Castiel’s cheeks flushed.

“Smooth,” Jimmy said. “Real smooth. But I sure hope you’re a lot more than cheesy pick up lines. And I’m telling you that as his older brother.”

“By twenty minutes,” Castiel muttered under his breath.

Jimmy leaned across the table, his eyes narrowed. “I take my duties as the older brother very seriously. If you’re all talk and no substance, if this is all a meaningless surface-level attraction, if you break Castiel’s heart…” He made a slicing motion across his throat. “I have ways of making you disappear.”

“Ignore him,” Castiel said. “He watches too many crime shows.”

“Nah, it’s all good. I’m an older brother too. I know what it’s like.” He held out his hand to shake Jimmy’s. “I’m going to treat your brother right. Don’t you worry about that.


End file.
